Headwaters State Forest could be reality by 2016

Peter Barr, with the Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy, looks over Lower Falls along the South Prong of Glady Fork on Thursday. CMLC is working in partnership with The Conservation Fund and N.C. Forest Service to protect 8,000 acres of working forest land in Transylvania County owned by former U.S. Rep. Charles Taylor. The property is one of the largest remaining privately-owned tract in western North Carolina.

Published: Sunday, May 19, 2013 at 6:56 p.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, May 19, 2013 at 6:56 p.m.

ROSMAN - The N.C. Forest Service is now a quarter of the way toward its goal of creating an 8,000-acre Headwaters State Forest in southern Transylvania County, protecting one of the largest undeveloped tracts of privately owned land in Western North Carolina.

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Over the last three months, in partnership with The Conservation Fund and Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy, the Forest Service has acquired 1,319 acres of land offered for sale by former U.S. Rep. Charles Taylor in the East Fork headwaters of the French Broad River.

Another 786 acres was purchased by The Conservation Fund in 2010 and will eventually be transferred to the state. That means the N.C. Forest Service and its partners have pieced together 2,105 acres to form the core of a future state forest nearly as big as DuPont State Recreational Forest, yet with its own rough-hewn character.

Like DuPont, the property along the Blue Ridge Escarpment boasts about 25 waterfalls, including Hidden Falls at over 100 feet high. The tract supports 60 miles of high-quality streams, nine rare Appalachian mountain bogs and several uncommon species, including green salamanders, gorge filmy fern and native brook trout.

The 107-mile Foothills Trail traces the southern spine of the property, and there are more than 50 miles of logging roads that will provide recreational access for sportsmen, mountain bikers and hikers. Hunting will be allowed throughout the area, which will remain open to logging as a “Stewardship Forest.”

When fully acquired, the tract will complete a “key link” in a chain of conservation lands stretching 100,000 acres across the Carolinas, said Kieran Roe, CMLC's executive director.

Bordering 9,700 acres of Greenville, S.C.'s watershed to the south, the East Fork tract connects the Jocassee Gorges area and adjacent national forest lands to the west with DuPont to the east, via Caesar's Head and Jones Gap State Parks. Such connectivity provides room to roam for recreationalists and migrating animals, Roe said.

Before Headwaters State Forest can open to the public, though, funding must be found to acquire the remaining 5,895 acres and a land management plan must be developed, said Assistant Regional Forester Michael Cheek. That could take three to five years, he said. Until then, it remains closed to public access.

When it does open, Headwaters State Forest will offer visitors a more rugged, backcountry experience than DuPont, Cheek said.

“DuPont is very easy for people to get into and walk around in,” he said. “Most of the trails aren't that hard. This property is along the Blue Ridge Escarpment. It has some extremely steep and rugged terrain. The majority of the waterfalls are significantly harder to access. It's not as easily accessible to those key features like you see at places like Hooker Falls.”

Cheek said the management model being considered won't provide for large parking lots like DuPont has or miles of newly developed trails. He said there are no current plans to staff the forest either. Rangers will have a number of forest restoration projects to tackle, Cheek said, from thinning white pine plantations to prescribed burning.

A working forest

The East Fork headwaters tract has a long history of timber management, going back to the late 1800s when the Joseph Silverstein family purchased the land to source timber for their lumber mill and tanning operation in nearby Rosman.

When Charles Taylor purchased the tract in the 1980s from Champion Timber Company, the forest was a mix of hardwood and pine trees interlaced by a network of logging roads, said Owen Taylor, Charles Taylor's son.

“We reduced the annual percentage of harvesting, which resulted in more mature stands of timber,” Taylor said in an email to the Times-News. “But large sections of the property are not suitable for harvesting and have been untouched for decades, at least.”

Charles Taylor approached CMLC about buying the land in 2009, with the goal of keeping the property under “multi-use” management while “preserving the health of the natural systems,” his son said. Taylor agreed to sell the property in phased installments over a six-year period, as funding became available.

The Conservation Fund bought the first 786-acre section in December 2010, donating 5 acres to the S.C. Department of Natural Resources so it could eventually build an observation tower on Sassafras Mountain, that state's highest peak.

The N.C. Forest Service's goal is to restore the forest to a more natural condition, Cheek said, thinning out overcrowded white pine stands, introducing short-leaf and pitch pine to areas where they once dominated and using prescribed fire to open up the understory so more sunlight can reach the forest floor, allowing herbaceous plants to grow.

“The majority of the hardwood there is in a medium-age class, where it doesn't need a lot of work,” Cheek said. “We just need to let it grow and mature.”

Besides managing for the growth of acorn-producing oaks, Cheek said the Forest Service will likely continue to maintain some of the open food plots created by the Headwaters Sportsman's Club, which leased much of the property for hunting deer, turkey and other game.

Cutbacks slow buyout

While the Taylor family has been “very helpful” by allowing a buyout in installments, Roe said “their patience may not be endless.” He said acquisition has moved “slower than anyone would like,” primarily because of state and federal cutbacks in funding for conservation.

“We are all working toward acquiring the 8,000 acres and putting it into state forest, but it's going to take a lot of work,” Roe said. “Part of the big picture is, we really need our state officials to restore conservation funding so projects like this can come to a conclusion.”

Funding for the Headwaters State Forest project has come from a hodge-podge of sources: The Conservation Fund, private donors Fred and Alice Stanback, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the N.C. Natural Heritage Trust Fund and the N.C. Clean Water Management Trust Fund.

Five years ago, the clean water trust fund was “a recurring budget item funded at $100 million,” Roe said. But it was cut to $50 million, then $11 million, and Gov. Pat McCrory's proposed budget gives it just $6 million. The Natural Heritage Trust Fund has been similarly reduced.

“The word we've been hearing is the current conversations in Raleigh may involve consolidating one or more of those trust funds and cutting back on administrative costs,” said Roe. “And probably the whole will be considerably less than its parts, in terms of money available for conservation.”

Roe said CMLC and its partners are hoping to fund the next phase of East Fork acquisition with funds from the U.S. Forest Service's “Forest Legacy Program,” which provides grants to states for purchasing commercial timberlands threatened by development. The program had protected 2.3 million acres as of 2012.

But funding for Forest Legacy fell from $79.5 million in 2010 to $53 million in 2011 and 2012. Due to federal sequestration, only $50.6 million was enacted for the current fiscal year. Roe said the federal process is lengthy, but said CMLC is “optimistic” that funds for the East Fork project will be forthcoming.

<p>ROSMAN - The N.C. Forest Service is now a quarter of the way toward its goal of creating an 8,000-acre Headwaters State Forest in southern Transylvania County, protecting one of the largest undeveloped tracts of privately owned land in Western North Carolina.</p><p>Over the last three months, in partnership with The Conservation Fund and Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy, the Forest Service has acquired 1,319 acres of land offered for sale by former U.S. Rep. Charles Taylor in the East Fork headwaters of the French Broad River.</p><p>Another 786 acres was purchased by The Conservation Fund in 2010 and will eventually be transferred to the state. That means the N.C. Forest Service and its partners have pieced together 2,105 acres to form the core of a future state forest nearly as big as DuPont State Recreational Forest, yet with its own rough-hewn character.</p><p>Like DuPont, the property along the Blue Ridge Escarpment boasts about 25 waterfalls, including Hidden Falls at over 100 feet high. The tract supports 60 miles of high-quality streams, nine rare Appalachian mountain bogs and several uncommon species, including green salamanders, gorge filmy fern and native brook trout.</p><p>The 107-mile Foothills Trail traces the southern spine of the property, and there are more than 50 miles of logging roads that will provide recreational access for sportsmen, mountain bikers and hikers. Hunting will be allowed throughout the area, which will remain open to logging as a “Stewardship Forest.”</p><p>When fully acquired, the tract will complete a “key link” in a chain of conservation lands stretching 100,000 acres across the Carolinas, said Kieran Roe, CMLC's executive director.</p><p>Bordering 9,700 acres of Greenville, S.C.'s watershed to the south, the East Fork tract connects the Jocassee Gorges area and adjacent national forest lands to the west with DuPont to the east, via Caesar's Head and Jones Gap State Parks. Such connectivity provides room to roam for recreationalists and migrating animals, Roe said.</p><p>Before Headwaters State Forest can open to the public, though, funding must be found to acquire the remaining 5,895 acres and a land management plan must be developed, said Assistant Regional Forester Michael Cheek. That could take three to five years, he said. Until then, it remains closed to public access.</p><p>When it does open, Headwaters State Forest will offer visitors a more rugged, backcountry experience than DuPont, Cheek said.</p><p>“DuPont is very easy for people to get into and walk around in,” he said. “Most of the trails aren't that hard. This property is along the Blue Ridge Escarpment. It has some extremely steep and rugged terrain. The majority of the waterfalls are significantly harder to access. It's not as easily accessible to those key features like you see at places like Hooker Falls.”</p><p>Cheek said the management model being considered won't provide for large parking lots like DuPont has or miles of newly developed trails. He said there are no current plans to staff the forest either. Rangers will have a number of forest restoration projects to tackle, Cheek said, from thinning white pine plantations to prescribed burning.</p><p></p><p><b>A working forest</b></p><p> </p><p>The East Fork headwaters tract has a long history of timber management, going back to the late 1800s when the Joseph Silverstein family purchased the land to source timber for their lumber mill and tanning operation in nearby Rosman.</p><p>When Charles Taylor purchased the tract in the 1980s from Champion Timber Company, the forest was a mix of hardwood and pine trees interlaced by a network of logging roads, said Owen Taylor, Charles Taylor's son.</p><p>“We reduced the annual percentage of harvesting, which resulted in more mature stands of timber,” Taylor said in an email to the Times-News. “But large sections of the property are not suitable for harvesting and have been untouched for decades, at least.”</p><p>Charles Taylor approached CMLC about buying the land in 2009, with the goal of keeping the property under “multi-use” management while “preserving the health of the natural systems,” his son said. Taylor agreed to sell the property in phased installments over a six-year period, as funding became available.</p><p>The Conservation Fund bought the first 786-acre section in December 2010, donating 5 acres to the S.C. Department of Natural Resources so it could eventually build an observation tower on Sassafras Mountain, that state's highest peak.</p><p>The N.C. Forest Service's goal is to restore the forest to a more natural condition, Cheek said, thinning out overcrowded white pine stands, introducing short-leaf and pitch pine to areas where they once dominated and using prescribed fire to open up the understory so more sunlight can reach the forest floor, allowing herbaceous plants to grow.</p><p>“The majority of the hardwood there is in a medium-age class, where it doesn't need a lot of work,” Cheek said. “We just need to let it grow and mature.”</p><p>Besides managing for the growth of acorn-producing oaks, Cheek said the Forest Service will likely continue to maintain some of the open food plots created by the Headwaters Sportsman's Club, which leased much of the property for hunting deer, turkey and other game. </p><p> </p><p><b>Cutbacks slow buyout</b></p><p></p><p>While the Taylor family has been “very helpful” by allowing a buyout in installments, Roe said “their patience may not be endless.” He said acquisition has moved “slower than anyone would like,” primarily because of state and federal cutbacks in funding for conservation.</p><p>“We are all working toward acquiring the 8,000 acres and putting it into state forest, but it's going to take a lot of work,” Roe said. “Part of the big picture is, we really need our state officials to restore conservation funding so projects like this can come to a conclusion.”</p><p>Funding for the Headwaters State Forest project has come from a hodge-podge of sources: The Conservation Fund, private donors Fred and Alice Stanback, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the N.C. Natural Heritage Trust Fund and the N.C. Clean Water Management Trust Fund.</p><p>Five years ago, the clean water trust fund was “a recurring budget item funded at $100 million,” Roe said. But it was cut to $50 million, then $11 million, and Gov. Pat McCrory's proposed budget gives it just $6 million. The Natural Heritage Trust Fund has been similarly reduced.</p><p>“The word we've been hearing is the current conversations in Raleigh may involve consolidating one or more of those trust funds and cutting back on administrative costs,” said Roe. “And probably the whole will be considerably less than its parts, in terms of money available for conservation.”</p><p>Roe said CMLC and its partners are hoping to fund the next phase of East Fork acquisition with funds from the U.S. Forest Service's “Forest Legacy Program,” which provides grants to states for purchasing commercial timberlands threatened by development. The program had protected 2.3 million acres as of 2012.</p><p>But funding for Forest Legacy fell from $79.5 million in 2010 to $53 million in 2011 and 2012. Due to federal sequestration, only $50.6 million was enacted for the current fiscal year. Roe said the federal process is lengthy, but said CMLC is “optimistic” that funds for the East Fork project will be forthcoming.</p><p>Reach Axtell at 828-694-7860 or than.axtell@blueridgenow.com</p>